Halo didn't know Liam could stretch his legs that fast, his pace was incredible, but he still made it to the trail slightly behind, which he was okay with.
However, the moment they got to the castle, his heart sank.
On Rascal land was Seraph and a Sinner who looked too familiar to him.
The Sinner stood humanoid in shape, its entire body bound in skin that resembled tight bandages. Fire-like energy glowed through every crack and opening.
Its tail was grotesquely oversized, nearly as tall as the creature standing upright, and far thicker than its spindly legs, smacking against the floor with each movement.
Its head was mostly dark, with no visible facial features, and red energy arcs around its head like a crown. It wielded jagged and black-and-red energy dual daggers similar to the energy around its arms, head, and legs.
Halo swallowed hard, lost in his own daze. He had seen this Sinner before, it was a painting. It was the Sinner Seraph who painted and warned him about it.
Her foresight was true, mostly. The painting had missed the tail and added a massive sword that didn't exist, but the core was right. Perhaps those were the limits of her ability.
However, before Halo knew it, Liam summoned his black wings, lunged, and rushed into the battle. Halo summoned his Magnus Blade, but before he could make any move, his body froze in place.
The Sinner had shredded Seraph's clothes, but she stayed in the fight, trading blows at close range. Blood dripped from her wounds even though she'd healed herself, or tried to.
So why was he frozen? Wounds that would kill most people, and she kept fighting with everything she had. Liam, anxious as he always was, had thrown himself into the fight without hesitation.
Why was he being a coward?
He gritted his teeth and commanded Magnus to let go of one of his hands and then changed both of his daggers into swords.
He knew what held him captive, the menacing aura radiating from the Sinner and the dark void of its face that somehow looked cocky. But then he remembered, he wasn't alone. Seraph and Liam were here too.
His heart hammered against his ribs, but he steadied himself and waited. Liam sent a barrage of feather blades. The Sinner blocked them, but the force knocked it backward. Now. Halo charged, closing fast, adjusting his grip mid-sprint. He struck at its chest.
It blocked just in time. Metal screeched against metal, a sickening sound that sent shivers down Halo's spine. The Sinner bounced backward from the force.
This put a smile on Halo's face, and he began to feel as confident as ever, as though this was what he truly needed to get himself back into the game.
He then tossed Seraph one of his swords, and without looking, he spoke:
"Use this for now until we figure out a way to kill it."
Seraph gave him a soft smile. "Thank you, Halo."
Before Halo could process her words, instinct moved him backward. Too late. The Sinner was already there, dagger aimed at his skull. Then Liam appeared, shoving him aside and blocking with his wings. The force was too much, it slammed Liam into the ground.
He should have been scared. He'd nearly died. But fear had evaporated. Something had clicked with that first strike, he could feel it burning inside. He was the Halo people once feared. And that bastard feared nothing.
Seraph jumped in on impulse, and the moment she did, Halo followed behind.
While Liam struggled to get his feet, Halo and Seraph found a brief synchronization without words. Due to Seraph's unique skill to stay very close to her opponents even with such a long weapon like a sword, it gave the Sinner no option but to keep its eyes on her alone.
Halo knew the truth, only he had enough raw power to send it flying. He used Seraph as cover, waiting for his moment. When the opening appeared, he lunged and struck.
He began loving this. The nonchalant look he always wore on missions and the fearlessness in his eyes were a part of him once more. This was a true victory for him. This world tried to swallow him whole, tried to bury the monster within him.
But now he simply couldn't help but feel the desire to tear through the Sinner's flesh with his blade.
While he and Seraph continued their ritual, Liam hovered behind them. It was as though he also knew what to do from observing.
The moment Halo noticed his presence, he knew what he had to do immediately. As soon as he spotted an opening, he seized it without hesitation and adjusted his sword with both his grips, holding onto it firmly.
He launched a strike at the Sinner's neck, but it moved just in time to block it, and it still sent it crashing into the ground. Exactly what they wanted.
The instant it crashed down, Liam sent a wave of razor-sharp feathers that tore through its body, impaling it and holding it in place.
Halo knew that wouldn't be enough to kill it, as he dashed toward it and leaped into the air, his blade heading directly for its neck.
Before he could finish the cut, the Sinner made a violent, erratic movement. The speed and force disoriented Halo momentarily. By the time he recovered, his body had already pulled back reflexively.
He didn't understand what happened, but he was certain his blade struck against something hard and rough, and he still felt it tear through something soft, undoubtedly the Sinner's neck.
But the moment he saw the Sinner rise to its feet, he sneered in annoyance and spat on the floor.
"Shit… it's a Crawler. It's healing…"
Liam muttered as he hovered behind Halo and Seraph while they all stared at the creature with frustrated looks.
They didn't understand what made Crawlers so dangerous, but they knew one thing, the creatures were incredibly hard to kill. No blood, constant regeneration unless you sever the head. Some could even regrow their heads, though Halo was fairly sure this one couldn't. Not that it made the fight any easier.
The Sinner knew. It knew decapitation meant death. Just as Halo's blade descended, the creature moved, interposing the crown-like arc on its head. The blade still sliced through its neck tissue, but the wound closed immediately.
But something stopped them cold. The Sinner appeared to be going through a metamorphosis, increasing in height to about eight feet, its body growing even more muscular than before.
"This is going to be a pain…"
Seraph assumed her stance.
"Can you take it on for a moment? I need sometime…"
Halo responded with a firm nod.